The Panorama Trail, Part III

by jenna on July 6, 2010

Don’t worry, we caught it.

We did not let the iphone get cast away in the rapids, although that would have made for a very interesting story and blog post. My legs were like jelly and I held on to the camera, and myself, for dear life.

We left Nevada Falls at about 2:30 and at that point, I had been holding my bladder for the past three hours.

Let me tell you something. Holding your bladder while constantly being around rapids and waterfalls is no walk in the park. But what’s a girl to do? I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see an outhouse in my entire life. After that, I was a whole new person and ready to conquer the final rocky three miles.

Other than Nevada Falls, I think my favorite part of the hike was coming alongside Vernal Falls close to the end. Picture just being blasted in the face with icy cold water while looking down at hundreds of feet of waterfall and rocks below you.

It was sort of like rain pouring on you while running a very long distance in South Florida.

I’m proud to say I only slipped once during the entire hike, and have a very large bruise the shape of a heart on my left bicep to show for it. But it makes me feel hardcore, you know? We finally made it back to Camp around 5:00 and I immediately threw myself on the bed and triumphantly inhaled three large squares of Lindt Sea Salt Chocolate. Nothing has ever, ever, EVER tasted so good.

And then I took a shower. And it felt amazing….other than the fact that I couldn’t feel my legs. I put on a cute sundress and thought of all of you who laughed at me when I proclaimed I was packing a dress for a camping trip.

We went to dinner at the campsite and I proceeded to drink half a bottle of Bella Syrah (in dixie cup fashion) while housing a huge cheeseburger and chicken wings in record time.

I don’t want to hear it. You try hiking a mountain in the heat for seven hours and then tell me you don’t want a big juicy burger and some hot wings in your life. Actually, I’m just going to go off and say it: I think a passion for hot wings was reawakened in my soul that very moment.

Congrats on the excellent experience! Personally, I love hiking. It makes me feel super *alive*.
2 things:
– Peeing outside is a definite MUST while hiking. If people see you, then you get bonus points.
– A beer and good, greasy comfort food is de rigueur afterwords. Once, I admit, I ate a huge burger BEFORE the backpacking trip. Not so hot. But after a hike, I am always craving a beer and something like a burger and fries, chips and salsa, fish and chips… Such bliss!

Damn, lady! You are so hardcore. After that hike, you deserve a dress and some wine. Those views looked absolutely worth all of those miles and hills. I am so doing that hike one day!! Thanks for taking us along on the journey, my heart almost stopped with the iPhone slippage! 🙂

Congratulations for completing such a challenging hike! My boyfriend and I went on a 6-mile hike last weekend, and now we’ve caught the bug. Next weekend, a vista point with a view of all of Silicon Valley, baby!

Oh, and if you’re ever caught in the woods with a full bladder again, consider one of these bad boys: http://www.thepstyle.com/

As for wings, can I just say yes please? I love extra hot wings with lots of blue cheese sauce. I have even made a buffalo chicken salad (inspired by a foodnetwork.ca recipe). It is actually really good and super satisfying. It ain’t healthy either though. Though.. I think wings need to go with beer!!

this seems like the the kind of place that is YOUR ELEMENT! seriously something about this whole series that is so you! i love this! what a freaking amazing adventure- seriously, look at all youve done!! <3

i have been to yo…many times. my best memories are staying at the ahwannee and watching the snow drop onto the valley floor in their cabins. i have amazing memories from there.

the ahwannee has something called vitner holidays every christmas and some of the best winemakers go there. it’s a big deal and i highly suggest you go one year because it’s life changing having dinner in the ahwannee dining room. it’s massive and filled with rock that the whole hotel is made out of.

Glad you made it to the Ahwanee for drinks after all! It’s so beautiful and peaceful, looking out over the grounds. And I think it’s totally appropriate to pack a sundress for Yosemite. Nothing better after a long hike than getting cleaned up and looking girly. Except maybe for a cheeseburger 🙂

Sounds amazing! I love Yosemite. And hot wings. Although I have a VERY soft spot in my heart for Chili´s boneless buffalo wings, super hot, all 1200 calories or whatever of them. I literally have dreams about them sometimes. Sigh.

Your photos are fantastic. I want to jump in a car and go to Yosemite right. now. Also, the way I see it? If you hike up and down a mountain for 7 hours, you can eat whatever you want! A burger and wings is exactly what I’d go for, too.

That looks like such a beautiful hike! My whole family (parents, brother & his wife and kids) had a terrific trip to Yosemite this past summer. We stayed at the Yosemite Bug, where I’ve stayed before. I’ve never done the Panorama Trail but would like to. We did more low key stuff like Tuolomne Meadows (GORGEOUS).
I used to have a HUGE thing about peeing outside, but somehow grew out of it and now I have to say I actually get a kick out of doing so when necessary on an outdoor adventure. It’s so liberating! Especially for girls. Yay for hiking and Yosemite!
Oh, and the Ahwannee hotel is so neat. I sent some postcards from the mailbox in the lobby, which apparently then get a special Yosemite postmark or something.

‘Ahwahnee–how the ‘other’ half lives.’ Hey. I resemble that remark and want you to know I currently have a very dea, very smelly rodent lodged in a wall in my abode. THAT’S how the ‘other’ half is currently rolling in Carmel. Oh yeah–hehe.
WOW you eyelashes looked amazing in that one shot!!

That’s ‘dead’ rodent….but dea also works. Hard to type with one hand holding sweater over nose!!! And chattering from freezing coastal 1AM fog with all the windows open. Try it!! (hysterical laughter at this hour with dead mouse smell) . SWEAR am getting a cat tomorrow!!! DEXTER–PUHLEEZE runaway. Carmel-by-the-Sea is very nice right now. And don’t have to CHASE mice. They just show up and die for you in the walls!!! HA!
Don’t judge me, people. This is Del Monte Forest living at its finest!! Dead rodent room-mates and all.

I sent the link from the first part of your trip to my BF. He’s really into hiking and I have never tried it so he’s a little bit scare to bring me along… I want to show him that there is nothing to be afraid of! You totally rock your first hiking trip! Congrats!

These pictures are beautiful! Not just because the views are spectacular — but there are some pretty amazing shots in there. 🙂

And I also think that hiking for 8 hours means you can eat whatever suits your fancy. The hardest hike I’ve done is up Mt. Washington. I didn’t have any greasy wings at the end, but I did eat pretty much an entire tub of Ben & Jerry’s by myself. It was the most delicious ice cream I’d ever had.

Oh….and I agree with some of the others — when you’re hiking you’ve gotta just pee in the woods! 🙂 It’s freeing (in a weird way). Plus, it means you don’t have to lock yourself into those stinky porta-pots.

i hope you have a picture album in your house. some of these photos look like magazine spreads. Glad you had an amazing time with the boy. I’m even more proud that you pushed yourself and did something outside of your comfort box!

I LOVED reading your recap of your weekend adventure!! I just got back from a vacation to Cali myself (LA area and Arizona-grand canyon) and it was gorgeous. Now hiking Yosemite is on my Bucket List, along with hiking the Grand Canyon!!! I am in love with California and the weather and I am jealous that you get to live there! haha =)

Sundresses, waterfalls, ice cream, hiking and burgers. I believe you just had my perfect day 🙂 Aside from the outhouse, I would have totally gone for the bushes instead!
I must say that your boy’s photography skills are out of this world. Gorgeous!

so happy to see you eating wings the right way! lol! i am from buffalo, ny (home of the chicken wing) and all us Buffalonians know the only way to eat wings is with loads of Blue cheese! way to represent! Yosemite looks beautiful from all the pics……cant wait to visit there myself 🙂

This looks like an absolutely fabulous trip! I’m so jealous. I’m trying to convince the husband to do a trip like this in our fab NC mountains this fall. I’ll show him this blog and maybe that’ll help.

I stumbled upon your blog in the vast blogging world and love it. I’ve just started a health/fitness/foodie blog of my own and love learning from others. I hope it’s okay but I’ve linked your blog to my blog roll.

Sounds like you had a great time! I love all the photos! One thing though – if you’re going to be a hard core hiker, you gotta learn to “go” in the woods. 😉 I much prefer the great outdoors to a port-a-potty or outhouse any day. But maybe you guys didn’t pack TP? I guess we readers left that out of our suggestions.

Sounds like you were quite pleased with yourself re: the sundress. 😉 Love the whole recap – you have a great perspective on things. Sidenote: the camp founder looks just as I would imagine a camp founder to look like.

Completely unrelated comment– I made your lentil loaf last night and my husband and I loved it! We actually preferred the taste and texture over regular meatloaf. Both of us have leftovers packed for lunch today, and my husband has already suggested we send the recipe to a few people. Thanks for sharing it on your blog!

I love love love hiking and think it would be so great to visit there. Everything looks so serene and empowering. Although, I admit that it does look tough. Especially knowing if I ever did it I would have to be hiking like your parents used to with a kiddo strapped to me.

And for the record – wings with blue cheese are perfect post hiking food. Yum!

I have a vivid memory of hiking the Grand Canyon with my family when I was 11 or so. My dad would also push us to the extreme. The last bit of climbing was so hard, we would walk a minute, rest a minute, chugging hot watered-down Gatorade.

Once we made it to the top, my brother and I were allowed to have ice cream. To this day, the best ice cream I ever had.

We have done that hike and it is an awesome experience (we did it with 3 kids and not enough water. I really enjoyed reading your account of the hike and now want to go back and do it all again (only better prepared). We are hiking in British Columbia in September and I am going to pack a sundress. I agree you just want to take a shower, get dressed up and eat whatever sounds good. Congratulations.

I love the last picture! You will get no grief about burgers and hot wings from me. After my first tough hiking trip we had milkshakes at the local restaurant that were “bucket sized.” After that I informed everyone I would hike wherever they wanted… as long as there were buckets of milkshakes at the end. 😉

this is the first time i’m reading your blog and it sounds like a hiking post doesn’t come around too often, so i’m glad i caught it… i’ll be sure to keep reading now! i also would like to know where your super cute sundress is from and what kind of camera you use… keep up the great work (and amazing hiking!), girl!